Champions Cup: Exeter Chiefs take aim at Glasgow in quarter-final quest as Saracens, Wsps and Bath go for bust

Reigning Premiership champions are the favourites to represent England in the last eight, with Saracens, Wasps and Bath all needing a helping hand to stay in the competition

Rob Baxter's Exeter Chiefs need to beat Glasgow Warriors to have a chance of reaching the quarter-finals (Getty)

Exeter Chiefs will take a largely unchanged side that powered past Montpellier last weekend into Saturday’s must-win encounter at Glasgow Warriors in the hope of maintaining English interest in the European Champions Cup this season. While there is just one personnel change, Rob Baxter has been forced into a back-line re-jig.

The absence of centre Sam Hill means that Ian Whitten is required to move inside from the wing to fill the No 12 shirt, with Lachie Taylor swapping full-back for the right wing and Phil Dollman coming into the empty 15 shirt. There is another blow in that club captain Jack Yeandle is ruled out with the injury that he suffered in the latter stages against Montpellier, so Elvis Taione is named among the replacements.

Should Exeter pick up a bonus-point victory at Scotstoun – a difficult task even if the Pro14 conference leaders are already out of Europe – they should have enough points to make the quarter-finals as one of the three best runners-up. However, director of rugby Baxter will not be focusing on other results until this one is in the bag.

“We have to attack this weekend in a very similar manner [to last week], almost not worry too much about things that are happening anywhere else and don’t let things get too far out of our own hands, but go and put in a performance in that we can be proud of, which was our big focus ahead of Montpellier last week. If we can do that, then often the other things take care of itself and we tend to perform well. Hopefully then we will get the result and the scores we need to go through.”

If familiarity is the key for Exeter, Saracens are not so lucky. After losing all three of their back-row by half-time in last Saturday’s 15-15 draw with Ospreys - a result that leaves the reigning champions on the brink of elimination - Saracens have been forced into a major forwards reshuffle. England international lock Nick Isiekwe returns to the second-row along with George Kruis, which allows Maro Itoje to move to blindside flanker and replace Michael Rhodes, out with a hamstring injury. Jackson Wray remains absent with the injury he suffered in last week’s warm-up so Calum Clark continues on the openside flank, and Schalk Burger starts in the unfamiliar position of No 8 after Billy Vunipola was ruled out for 12 weeks with the fractured forearm that will also keep him out of the Six Nations.

Behind the pack, director of rugby Mark McCall makes just one change as Chris Wyles comes into the side for Sean Maitland, and with Liam Wiliams on the other wing, there is no space for Nathan Earle who marked his return to the England squad this week by sealing a move to Harlequins, with Alex Lewington set to arrive at Saracens in the summer from London Irish as his replacement.

Following last weekend’s draw, Saracens are very aware that victory may not be enough to see them through to the last eight for the sixth consecutive year. A victory for Ospreys in Clermont would eliminate Sarries, and even if the Welsh region suffer defeat, Saracens still need help elsewhere in order to make the quarter-finals. “All we can do is try and get as much out of the game as we can, Northampton have had a pretty good couple of weeks with playing fantastically well against Clermont last week and they’re definitely a team reborn with their confidence back,” said McCall.

Billy Vunipola will miss 12 weeks with a fractured arm (Getty)

“We know what’s required but it’s never nice when things aren’t in your control, but what is in our control is Saturday and putting in a good performance, trying to maximise what we can get out of the game.”

There will be an intriguing battle to watch in the front row as England captain Dylan Hartley comes up against understudy Jamie George at hooker just two weeks before the Six Nations kicks off, and while Saints’ back three sees a reshuffle as Ben Foden moves to full-back with Nafi Tuitavake starting on the wing, the welcome return of George North among the replacements a week ahead of schedule will be given particular focus by those across the Severn.

Dylan Hartley starts for a rejuvenated Northampton Saints (Getty)

If Saracens’ task looks difficult, then Wasps’ looks near-impossible. Dai Youngs’ side need a bonus-point victory over Ulster and to prevent the Irish pool-toppers picking up a losing bonus point just to finish on level points with them, and also hope that La Rochelle slip-up at home against Harlequins. A victory by 10 points or more – along with scoring four tries – would be enough for Wasps to move ahead of Ulster on head-to-head record and points difference should they finish level in the two matches between them after Ulster’s 19-9 victory back in round one. However, 17 points is unlikely to be enough to claim a best runners-up spot, so Wasps will need some help from their Premiership rivals in France.

Wasps do at least have one of their many injured centres back in Juan de Jongh, but they are without the suspended James Haskell so Jack Willis starts at blindside with Thomas Young restored to the openside. The only other change sees Ashley Johnson replaced at hooker by Tom Cruse.

“We have plenty to put right from the last few weeks, and have been working hard on those things in training,” said Dai Young. “We can only control events at the Ricoh. A number of things must happen for us to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals, but it all starts with us beating Ulster.

James Haskell has been banned for four weeks for a dangerous tackle (Getty)

And finally, for English interests, to Bath, where the requirement is simple. A bonus-point victory over Benetton will give Bath a chance of qualifying as runners-up as they can no longer finish top of the pool. That’s because Toulon sit five points ahead and the Scarlets four, with the two sides meeting this weekend that will guarantee one of them is out-of-reach regardless of which way the result falls.

Assuming Bath gain the five points needed to finish on 18 points, and if Toulon win, Bath will finish second as long as the Scarelts fail to register a losing bonus-point. A draw in Wales would eliminate Bath, while a Scarlets victory, without a Toulon losing bonus-point, would see Scarlets top the table with Bath second as they hold a head-to-head advantage over Toulon after outscoring them 46-45 in their two pool matches. But if Todd Blackadder’s side fail to win with four tries, they are out as the Scarlets hold a superior record thanks to last weekend’s drubbing at the Rec.

Rhys Priestland has been ruled out for the majority of the Six Nations (Getty)

Blackadder makes four changes to his Bath side, with Freddie Burns named at fly-half after Rhys Priestland was ruled out with a hamstring injury this week that will also keep him out of the majority of the Six Nations. Argentina prop Lucas Noguera is brought into the side, along with scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i, while James Phillips starts ahead of Luke Charteris in the second-row.